Katawa Shoujo Forums

It was a wonderfully well written tangent if nothing else.

great story, loved it.

As a Hanabro, I couldn't be happier. This story was well-written. In the end, it has completely closed a chapter of Hanako's life, while opening up a door for the next one. It also seems good to just leave things to when they leave Yamaku, since it will be up to the reader on how they would visualize Hanako's first few months in college, how she's managing to prevent from tilting when encountering different situations, and how she's able to face all of these with the help of her family and friends.

I hope this gets turned into a movie. I'm still hoping for a Katawa Shoujo movie with Hanako's arc! Thanks for this awesome story!

Considering that I've successfully blown maybe 3 days worth of free-time to finish this story, I feel compelled to share my appreciation for your efforts, even if you don't see to be active on the forum anymore.

One of my favourite lines was in chapter 17 when Lilly says "I've wanted to know for so long." It really struck a chord with me. I also deeply enjoyed the personalities, background stories, and writing of the non-canon characters. They just felt so real. I especially loved the part where Karla talks about the cultural differences between Japan and Scotland, and how she dealt with them, as well as her relationship with Lilly's father. Probably because it hit a little close to home. It was a very sweet story and very nicely satisfied the desire to find out what would continue to happen to Hanako (at least in my mind!). Although, I was kind of expecting a "10 year later" part at the end, or something to that effect.

Ahhh... now I'm feeling a bit empty and going to have to find another story to read to fill this gap. Or do some studying. Either works.

I had known about Katawa Shoujo for years now, since it came out but, only recently had any interest in actually downloading it and played through it all the way and even if my main girl will always be Emi, this story might just be perfect. They're fanfictions and then they're stories, I took 2 1/2 days to read every word of this book and it just captivated me and I loved it. The realistic approach of Hanako's panic attacks and depression, how it's all encompassing and devours your world, this story is just pure amazingness and I loved every bit of it, thank you for writing this.

Tried out this game only last week, became enraptured so I began looking up more, and wound up finding your wonderfully written Epilogue, loving it so much I had to join this forum just to thank you for writing such a beautiful story.

I remember reading this and getting to Chapter 20 and saying: "This is a good time to bring things to a close, probably close to the end of the story... wait, what?" That's when I saw the chapter count that went up to 60. It was daunting, but well worth the read. This is exactly the sort of story Hanako deserved.

And the Satou's as well. Their parents are often portrayed as assholes. I'm glad you took it in this direction, it is a perfectly reasonable way to break up a family for the best of reasons. Gives Akira something to think about and reevaluate her views.

Loved it. Did you write any other stories? I'd be interested in anything you've written.

Back when I first read this, I was a total lurker, and now that I've been drawn back into this community, four years later, I've decided to give it a good old fashioned re-read and voice my thoughts. And goddamn, it was worth it!

Probably my favorite fic on the site, if not simply ever! A lot of people cited problems with it, but they never took me out of the story. Everything seemed like it had a purpose for being the way it was, and I really appreciate that. And on my re-read, I can really fucking appreciate how much research went into this story. It's kind of incredible. Even as a lot of people said the sex scenes are too much, I didn't mind them since they either added meaning or plot to the story, or they added necessary fluff. The kind that isn't needed per se, but it wouldn't be quite the same without. The last one especially I thought reunited their relationship in a good way. I also liked the voice of each character. They really sounded like they did in the VN, and if they weren't in it, they sounded like a KS character.

The only thing I'd agree with being too much would be the thing about Hanako helping Lilly get used to her computer, and the chain of emails with her father. It didn't add too much to the story except to reaffirm that they were in contact together. But it was a really small part of the story, so it's still fine.

Anything else I could say would just be repeating what everyone else has said. 10/10, I'll be thinking about this for a long time!

If I stopped reading at about 1/3 of chapter 16 because I absolutely hated it, will I want to continue reading this story? Or will there be even more of that drama going forward?

What exactly did you hate about it?

chemic_zen wrote: ↑Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:36 pmOr will there be even more of that drama going forward?

This is very much a story driven by hills and valleys. After every rise is a fall, and after every fall a rise, until one of them is the end (and I won't spoil which). That's one reason it can be so long without becoming boring.

If you're looking for a story about things being good and people being happy with no fear of anything being ruined in the future (and I couldn't blame you), then this story might not be for you. That said, there's an argument to be made that this style creates higher highs - as long as you're willing to wait through the lower lows.

I'd recommend at least finishing chapter 16, though. It's a very good chapter.

@Craftyatom

I don't mind the "fear of anything being ruined in the future". Those come naturally in every serious relationship. But what was presented so far, is just a variation of the dilemma in the canon ending-- good and bad, which I feel they should've already moved on from, or at the very least handled it differently; not do the exact same thing minus a few tweaks here and there.

Another negative point: dramas have to align with what makes sense to me personally. As someone who's had the same experiences as Hanako-- though to a much lesser degree-- I just don't buy into the idea that she'd break up with Hisao just like that. To me, it felt cheap and forced. I was rolling my eyes through the whole thing. That's why I had to stop reading.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I'm too finicky when it comes to drama, so it's extremely rare for me to like them. And a long story centered on drama (I'm assuming) like this one? I'm very sure I'd have an endless list of things I strongly disagree with.

chemic_zen wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 10:07 amWhat was presented so far, is just a variation of the dilemma in the canon ending-- good and bad, which I feel they should've already moved on from, or at the very least handled it differently; not do the exact same thing minus a few tweaks here and there. [...] To me, it felt cheap and forced.

There's certainly more of that in the rest of the story - there are some additional extra plot points, but the main conflict is always Hanako's self-image and self-esteem, which are portrayed as taking a very, very long time to change (something mentioned explicitly in earlier chapters). One could call this 'realism', but I don't think it's that simple, and I also can't blame you for not wanting to read through it. You certainly should be at no loss for something else to read, given the amount of material on this forum.

I finally read through the whole story. Excellent work!

First of all, I LOVE this Hanako. I wanna say this is the "True Hanako Route". It is so satisfying to see a girl who once was more like a phantom transform into beautiful woman with clear goals, love relationship, friends, and all. Takawa's graduation speech as a summary was very touching. I give the game's Hanako 4 out of 10, but I am going to give THIS Hanako 9.9 out of 10 (not perfect only because 10 is reserved for Shizune).

The integrity of this story is extremely intact. I am a very observant guy, but I did not find a single plothole in that 450k words. And it addressed beautifully many of the game's unexplained factors, especially Lilly's family issues. The author is very knowledgeable in many aspects, such as medical stuff (AED, EKG...), Scotland (Inverness, Loch Ness, the hard-to-pronounce village...), Japanese culture (family and company, NCT and entrance exams, birth rates...), chess (King's gambit accepted...), counselling, even sex life. Love the story 100%.

Many things I love about the story:
- Hairpin. Great idea.
- Therapist playing Go with Hanako, with the rule of whoever's turn gets to talk.
- Arcade date. Helps to relax the girl. I can use this idea to help the boys around me.
- Letting Hanako work on her own pace during intimacy. I admit I learned a lot.
- Demon nurse.
- Hisao's charming voicemail.
- Yuuko saves the day.
- Thanks for a text guide of a Scotland journey.
- Loch Ness toy.
- Hisao receiving AED.
- Takawa's wake-up slap on Hanako.
- H1S4O, flowergirl_89, sapporo4ever.
- The discussion of Jigoro's autobiography.
- Takawa's graduation speech.

I'm going to put this story into my personal read list. One of the best piece I have ever read.

I kind of want an epilogue of this epilogue though...

Since Sisterhood is oh-so-delightfully long, I wanted to create an ebook version of it so it's much easier to read. After several hours of copy-pasting and editing, I believe I have something useful! Hope you enjoy

EDIT: (11/06/2018) Now vastly improved with feedback from Guest Poster!

EDIT: (16/06/2018) Added a separate version with music cues.